Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2023-40430 is a macOS privacy bypass fixed in macOS Sonoma 14. A local app could access removable volumes without the user's consent, creating a confidentiality risk for data on external drives or similar media.
Executive priority
Treat as a standard patching priority unless your environment depends heavily on removable media. The main business concern is unauthorized reading of sensitive files from external volumes by a local app.
Technical view
Apple describes a CWE-285 logic issue addressed with improved checks. The CVSS vector is local, low complexity, no privileges required, user interaction required, unchanged scope, high confidentiality impact, and no integrity or availability impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most relevant to macOS systems not updated to the Apple-fixed release. The source bundle does not specify exact affected macOS versions, only that the issue is fixed in macOS Sonoma 14.
Exploitation context
The bundle does not show CISA KEV status or cited evidence of active exploitation. Exploitation would require local app execution and user interaction, with impact focused on unauthorized access to removable volume data.
Researcher notes
Evidence is limited to Apple and CVE records. The affected version range is unspecified, the fix is macOS Sonoma 14, and there is no source-backed exploit detail or public exploitation claim in the bundle.
Mitigation direction
- Update eligible macOS systems to macOS Sonoma 14 or later per Apple guidance.
- Check Apple support guidance for any platform-specific update requirements.
- Prioritize Macs handling removable media or sensitive regulated data.
- Limit untrusted local app installation until affected Macs are updated.
Validation and detection
- Inventory macOS endpoints and compare versions against Apple HT213940.
- Confirm Sonoma 14 update status in MDM or endpoint management.
- Identify systems that regularly use removable volumes with sensitive data.
- Check scanner coverage for CVE-2023-40430 or the Apple advisory mapping.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-285: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2023-40430 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Medium
- CVSS
- 5.5 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N1.83.6Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
5.5MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT213940CVE reference
- https://support.apple.com/kb/HT213940CVE reference
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Improper Authorization
Improper Authorization represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.